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My amazing and out-of-the-blue opportunity to view THE Urbana conference this week has provided a really solid window into the InterVarsity campus ministry world. (To clarify, LOTS of non-InterVarsity college ministries and other Christians attend Urbana, and I would highly recommend it. But it is indeed organized by InterVarsity every three years, and they do so in a way that’s very consistent with their identity and emphases.)
Yesterday, I posted three ways Urbana reflects its parent organization; today, three more. My hope is for all of us to get to know all of us better. If you could use a primer or a brush-up on the InterVarsity world, read on!
inductive Bible study
InterVarsity calls their specific style of inductive Bible study “manuscript studies.” This format is very widely used within IV’s small group settings nationwide, to the point that it’s known as one of the “classics” among college ministry methods – up there with Four Spiritual Laws and the Navigators’ “Wheel” illustration. From what I can gather, it really just involves treating selected texts of Scripture as manuscripts – with an emphasis on inductively learning from the texts themselves, without bringing in too much preconceived “baggage.” (Their use of the Book of Mark for these studies is especially traditional in the IV world.)
Urbana’s schedule is chock-full of manuscript study; in this case, the mornings were used to work progressively through the first four chapters of John. Students practiced manuscript studies for an hour-and-a-half first thing each morning, then the speaker in the main morning session picked up the exposition where the morning’s manuscript study had left off.
a different sort of Big Show
Another way Urbana seems to somewhat reflect InterVarsity’s work on the ground is through a pretty “unshowy” large group gathering experience. Neither the worship nor the speaking feels especially “popular” but instead seems to aim for different ends – including a large emphasis on multiculturalism, as I shared yesterday. From what I’ve seen, I think this methodology extends to many “on the ground” IV college ministries.
I don’t really know how to describe this without sounding like I’m either bashing InterVarsity or bashing those ministries that do aim to build large-group experiences in a different way. I certainly don’t consider either sort of methodology bash-worthy in the least! They’re just different, with different purposes behind them. Perhaps it suffices to point out that the large gatherings of Urbana feel very different from what next week’s Passion gatherings (if they resemble years past).
Again, I’m a fan of both.
an international allegiance
Finally, an aspect of InterVarsity that comes out bigtime here at Urbana is its connection to the larger Christian world. InterVarsity USA and Inter-Varsity Canada are members of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students, “a community of national student movements who are committed to being partners in global student witness.” In other words, IV is a happy member of a network of worldwide college ministries. And it’s clear InterVarsity celebrates this fact – most explicitly through the fact that many of the main stage speakers aren’t North American.
While local InterVarsity campus ministries might not hype the IFES connection on a weekly basis, it certainly seems to be an important part of understanding IV. Clearly, the missions focus of Urbana further points to InterVarsity’s desire to be involved in the nations – both in witness and in works, but also beginning with a deep respect for the glories of the Christian communities that already exist in those many places.
for more!
www.urbana09.org (Urbana 2009 main site)
www.intervarsity.org (InterVarsity USA)
www.ivcf.ca (InterVarsity Canada)
www.ifesworld.org (International Fellowship of Evangelical Students)
Written from Motel 6 by Lambert-St. Louis International Airport
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Since we’ve already had two posts on college ministry legal issues in the past week, I figured I would include one more.
(The two previous posts looked at campus Christmas displays and a lawsuit involving Brothers Under Christ that is being argued today, actually.)
Those familiar with Collegiate Ministry are probably most aware of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship‘s multiple legal fights. For them, the issues have tended to center on IV’s requirement that their student leaders agree with their faith statement.
During my trip, one InterVarsity guy (who has been around for awhile) made an interesting point. These cases have generally been reconciled (in IV’s favor) out of court. While the individual victories are certainly helpful to those InterVarsity chapters involved, he pointed out that the establishment of a precedent (in court) might ultimately be necessary for long-term, widespread resolution of the issues at hand.
As I said yesterday, people may have different takes on the merits of such cases. That’s okay. But it does seem to me that in order to practice (most forms of) Christian college ministry, lines of belief and practice have to be drawn at some point.
Anyway, in case you’re interested, here are some links to various InterVarsity cases:
A lengthy Chronicle of Higher Education article discussing InterVarsity’s problems at Tufts University and Middlebury College. In both cases InterVarsity chapters refused to allow homosexuals into leadership positions. (This was written while both situations were current.)
A year later, the discussion of what happened in the Tufts case, described at Christianity Today with several other good links.
InterVarsity’s summary and links for a recent case (2006) at University of Wisconsin – Superior. InterVarsity’s lawsuit was eventually withdrawn after an agreement with administrators, who actually changed part of the school’s policy as a result.
Christianity Today reports a recent problem (and quick resolution) at Georgetown University, where InterVarsity and five other Protestant groups were “disaffiliated” for a short time.
InterVarsity’s report on its “amicable resolution” with Rutgers over an incident in 2003.
A story on Ralph Thomas, IVCF’s legal counsel from 1993 to earlier this year.
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